That figure doesn't include any ad revenue from placements on its free service, or corporate partnership deals like its pairings with HTC and Sprint cellphones.

The private company spends the vast majority of that on licensing payments, however, and has yet to turn significant profit. Businessweek cites a report estimating the company has lost $200 million since its founding.

The streaming-music sphere has also gotten more complicated with Apple's rumored $3.2-billion purchase of the headphone company and streaming service Beats.

The pairing of the world's largest music retailer with the popular headphone company and its Dr. Dre- and Jimmy Iovine-backed streaming service has the potential to be a significant threat to Spotify's now-dominant position.

It's a time-tested, if not always a time-honored, tradition in pop music: accusations of copyright infringement over a classic song. In this case, protectors of the estate of Randy California, lead guitarist and songwriter of 1960s Los Angeles-based band Spirit, argue that Led Zeppelin may have...

Those plucky upstarts in the Rolling Stones have announced a new round of touring and a reissue of their beloved 1971 LP "Sticky Fingers." Here are a few facts you should know going into the mania for Mick & Co. on Tuesday morning.

Despite an early-set knock on the nose that required a bandage for lead singer David Lee Roth, Pasadena's greatest rock export Van Halen survived its nationally televised debut on Monday night -- and shut down Hollywood Boulevard in the process.